Farmington Senior Builds Nicaraguan House For Capstone Project

Kate Alperin

Patrick Raycraft, Hartford Courant

"The goal of the house is to inform people about climate change," writes Kate Alperin, 18, in her Capstone project statement about her senior independent project at Farmington High School. Alperin has teamed with the New Haven Leon Sister City project to build a typical Nicaraguan one room house that an impoverished family would inhabit in the rural areas of the Central American country.

"The goal of the house is to inform people about climate change," writes Kate Alperin, 18, in her Capstone project statement about her senior independent project at Farmington High School. Alperin has teamed with the New Haven Leon Sister City project to build a typical Nicaraguan one room house that an impoverished family would inhabit in the rural areas of the Central American country. (Patrick Raycraft, Hartford Courant)

Why has there been a 9-foot-tall Nicaraguan house model in the Farmington High School library?

FARMINGTON — For the past two weeks, Farmington High School senior Kate Alperin has talked about the 9-foot-tall house she built in the school's library.

As part of her custom capstone project for school, Alperin set up a model of what an average rural Nicaraguan house looks like in connection with the New Haven/León Sister City Project.

"It generated a lot of attention, and I think a lot of [students] came to the library just to look at it," Alperin said.

She said the purpose was to educate students about the impact of climate change on communities around the world and to raise "awareness about how other people live."

Alperin said she is also raising money to help Nicaraguan families buy environmentally friendly stoves.

The way Nicaraguans usually cook, using firewood, emits a large amount of carbon dioxide, Alperin said. The new stoves will reduce greenhouse gas pollution and save the families money on wood, she said.

Alperin said she has raised about $300 so far, or enough to send six stoves to Nicaragua. Her goal is $1,000, and she has started an Indiegogo campaign online to raise money.

Russell Crist, Alperin's capstone adviser and an English teacher, said he was impressed by Alperin's desire to go "beyond the curriculum."

"I've been so impressed that in a time where people are so into electronics and their own little world, [Alperin] has done something special to make the world a better place," Crist said.

Alperin said the yearlong project has also helped her learn what she wants to do in the future: agricultural consulting and volunteering for the Peace Corps.

"It's a project I never want to end," Alperin said. "It's what I want to do forever."

The house was taken down from the school library this week, but Alperin said she would like to rebuild it at the Farmington Main Library or outside the school.